It’s still uncertain whether sports will be allowed when Denair High School reopens to students in August. The COVID-19 pandemic – which cancelled all spring sports and required students to transition to all online classes in mid-March – hasn’t gone away. Maintaining social distancing, wearing face coverings and applying all appropriate safety measures will be encouraged if not required.

Melissa Treadwell, Denair’s athletic director, expects the CIF – which governs high school sports in California – to announce by July 20 whether fall sports such as football, girls volleyball, girls golf and cross country will be played and, if so, under what circumstances.

“Our goal is for our students to be able to play sports,” Treadwell said.

Meanwhile, supervised conditioning drills began this week for athletes in many fall sports, plus the girls on the various cheerleading squads. There are strict guidelines all schools must follow:

All children 18 and under who live within driving distance of Denair Middle School are invited to participate in a free breakfast, lunch and supper program this summer. Children do not have to attend Denair schools to participate and there is no income or other eligibility restrictions.

The meals are prepared by the food services staff of the Denair Unified School District. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, food is distributed in a drive-through system in the middle school parking lot.

Meals are available Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, breakfast, lunch and supper is provided for that day. On Thursdays, enough food is distributed in two bags for three meals a day per child through the weekend, said Kim Fuentez, Denair’s food services coordinator.

The ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact public education across California.

First, it pushed students and teachers out of their classrooms and into distance-learning mode for the final two months of the school year. That was an important and necessary effort to slow the spread of the virus.

Now, COVID is affecting the financial capacity of districts to keep programming where it was before the crisis hit. That’s because state revenue has plunged during the pandemic with many businesses temporarily shuttered and tax receipts drying up. That directly hits education funding, which Gov. Newsome proposed to slash by $15 billion in his 2020-21 budget revision released in May.

Thursday night, Denair Unified School District trustees learned just what that potential cut means to their four campuses as they approved a bare-bones $14,539,016 budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. By comparison, this year’s budget was $15,344,091. About 80% of the district’s budget is dependent upon state funding.

“This is no normal year. And this is no ordinary May revision,” said Linda Covello, the district’s chief business official.

DENAIR – The Denair High School gym long has been known as a hot, humid, uncomfortable place to play or watch a game or hold a schoolwide rally, especially in the warmer months of the year. Now, thanks to a multimillion-dollar air conditioning upgrade, students, staff and community members no longer will have to swelter.

Tuesday morning, a large crane lifted two 25-ton heating and air units into place on top of the gym. When they’re connected and turned on, the cool confines of the gym may be the place to be on sunny summer afternoon.

That’s rarely been the case in the past.

Principal Kara Backman said the gym could get as high as 94 degrees. Boys basketball Coach R.J. Henderson described conditions as “miserable” during youth basketball camps in the summer. “It was hotter inside than outside,” he said. Athletic Director Melissa Treadwell used to bring in large fans to try and cool the gym before events.

Jacob Lewellen’s passion for volleyball is undeniable. The recent Denair High graduate was the driving force behind the formation of a boys volleyball team this year at the school. And even though the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the inaugural season after just two games, Lewellen’s dedication to the sport earned him some well-deserved recognition when he recently was chosen for a regional all-star team.

Lewellen was one of 12 players selected for the South Small-School team in the Sacramento Optimist all-star games, which were scheduled for May 31 but cancelled because of coronavirus health concerns.

“It was kind of unexpected,” said Lewellen of his all-star status. “I didn’t know it was a thing.”

Lewellen was exposed to high-level volleyball from an early age. His father, David, was a pro beach volleyball player when the family lived in Florida. When they moved to California, David served as the coach of the girls team at Denair High. Jacob was in middle school then and participated in almost every practice.